More Person of the Week

Bill Treasurer

Updated: Saturday, October 19 2013, 12:29 AM EDTIt's safe to say that probably no one would ever think about diving from 100 feet into a small pool of water. It takes a lot courage. Our person of the week has made that dive hundreds of times. But the greatest courage he's ever seen is in a little girl. She's a big part of why he's reaching out to help others.

Of all the challenges Bill Treasurer has faced in life, none measure up to those faced daily by his 10 year-old daughter, Bina. Treasure says, "she is beautiful and she's my heart. She's my little girl."

Bina has cerebral palsy and she's deaf. She's become one his greatest teachers. Treasurer says he learns "lessons about courage and strength and persistence and fortitude and patience." Lessons that companies pay to hear through his business, Giant Leap Consulting, and in the books he's written over the years about courage and leadership. But even before Bill started a family, courage was no stranger.

Years ago after his time as a member of the U.S. High Diving Team, he worked as a high diver at theme park all over the U.S. and Canada. From 100 feet up, he would jump from a tiny platform into a small pool of water only 9 feet deep.

Treasurer says, "but my story starts out with a profound fear of heights. I found my courage in that. I found that when you walk through the thing you're afraid of with help and support, with leaders and coaches, you can do powerful things."

He did it 1,500 and sometimes even while he was set on fire. And finding courage has been his life's calling. With his most recent book, Leaders Open Doors, he is donating all the proceeds to programs that help those with special needs such as Irene Wortham and March of Dimes.

Treasurer says his own belief, "is in a civil society. If we can't do right by people who need us most, and I think kids with special needs are a very fragile population, then what's wrong with us as a people. To me it's such a critical issue."

Sandi Garcia with the Irene Wortham Center says, "he is really an amazing man. I see and work with parents of kids with disabilities, and it's a tough road."

His diving days are long past, but Bill Treasurer has learned that you don't have to bee 100 feet up to find courage.